Biglari disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Cracker Barrel has tried twice since November to buy out his stake at market price, valued at about $300 million. Mr. Biglari quickly rejected the notion, saying he intends to be a long-term shareholder.

Even after losing his battle for a seat on Cracker Barrel’s board for the second year in a row, activist investor Sardar Biglari is still showing interest in the restaurant chain.

Biglari Holdings upped its stake in Cracker Barrel to just six shares shy of 20%, according to Factset–all but maxing out given the poison pill with a 20% trigger that was passed at Cracker Barrel’s shareholder meeting last month.

Activist investor Sardar Biglari, who attempts to emulate Warren Buffett, lost his second battle with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. on Thursday, another setback in his attempt to gain further control of the company and an indication that shareholders–who have benefited from a rising stock price–are tiring of his presence.

Associated Press

Shareholders at Cracker Barrel’s annual meeting elected the company’s nominees for the board of directors, rejecting Mr. Biglari’s attempt to gain a seat for himself and his associate. Investors also approved the board’s plan to prevent Mr. Biglari from acquiring more than 20% of Cracker Barrel’s shares.

The Chief Executive of Biglari Holdings owns nearly 18% of Cracker Barrel’s shares. He has been battling the country-style restaurant and gift shop chain for the past year-and-a-half, criticizing its performance, pushing for changes in its leadership and taking issue with the way it reports profits.

Since September 2011, Cracker Barrel’s stock has risen nearly 70%, indicating that Mr. Biglari has made a hefty profit on paper. But unlike other activists, who would usually walk away with their returns, Mr. Biglari–Cracker Barrel’s largest shareholder–has continued to put up a fight.

The typically outspoken activist has remained quiet in the immediate hours following Thursday’s defeat, and hasn’t indicated whether he plans to walk away now.

If you want to be like Warren Buffett, the first step might be learning the rules to investing.

Associated Press

Biglari Holdings agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty to settle alleged reporting violations related to the purchase of shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store last year, according to the Justice Department.

Chief Executive Sardar Biglari, who now owns nearly 18% of the country-style restaurant and gift shop operator, has been battling Cracker Barrel for more than a year, criticizing its performance and pushing for changes in the company’s leadership.

At the prodding of Mr. Biglari–who is now Cracker Barrel’s largest shareholder–the company has named a new chief executive, appointed several new board members and initiated cost-reduction and sales-boosting efforts at its restaurants and stores to reverse a downward slide in the business.

But Mr. Biglari, who has been described as a Warren Buffett devotee with the activism of Carl Icahn, doesn’t seem to quite have the basic reporting process down.

According to rules, individuals and companies have to provide notification and wait a certain period for approval from DOJ before they make an acquisition more than $68.2 million.

The exception is if the acquisition is passive and ”solely for the purpose of investment.”

But the Justice Department maintains that Mr. Biglari planned to become actively involved with the company, and was therefore in violation from June 8 through Sept. 22, 2011. The maximum civil penalty is $16,000 a day for violations.

The move to adopt a 20% poison pill trigger, a year after shareholders rejected a 10% trigger, is another attempt to make itself less tasty sounding to wannabe Warren Buffett investor Sardar Biglari, the owner of Steak N Shake.

Biglari and his Biglari Holdings, which he has said he wants to build into a neo-Berkshire Hathaway, has about a 16% stake in Cracker Barrel, up from 9.9% before the previous poison pill was rejected.

Biglari has pushed for a board seat and wants to improve the restaurant chain’s performance, which he called “lugubrious” in a letter in December. Biglari didn’t win a seat on the board at the same annual meeting shareholders rejected the poison pill, but has continued to buy shares.

In February, Cracker Barrel reported its fiscal second-quarter net income fell 11% but same-store guest traffic rose 1.1% and the company boosted its full-year earnings estimate to $4.35 a share from $4.20.

About Deal Journal

Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.

Dealpolitik is Ronald Barusch's strategic look at deals currently making the headlines as well as the major forces at work in the deal-making world. He was a M&A lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 30 years. He retired in 2010 after 25 years as a partner at the firm. Click here for his current and archived columns.